"This has been a somewhat complicated case and we've been very thorough and methodical in our efforts,'' said Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector. "For five days, Melton told no one that he had knowledge of the injury that caused this poor baby's death. Today we begin the process of holding him accountable for his actions."

Levi is the third child to die in the Birmingham metro area in one week - two of them by violent crimes. On Tuesday, 18-month-old Ta"leah Nicole Alexander-Burke died at Children's of Alabama in what the Jefferson County Coroner's Office ruled was homicide by blunt force trauma. On Monday, 3-year-old Dra Kadyn Hudson died after he was left in his grandmother's vehicle for about eight hours while she was at work at Miles College. That case remains under investigation.

Hoover police responded at 3:49 p.m. on Sept. 21 to a 911 call from The Retreat at Rocky Ridge apartments, said Capt. Gregg Rector. The call was placed by Melton, describing an unknown medical issue involving Levi.

Firefighters arrived on the scene within four minutes, and found Levi in severe distress, Rector said. Hoover police detectives immediately responded to the hospital and launched their investigation. Melton, who was the sole caregiver of Levi that day, could not provide any explanation as to what may have caused the child to be in distress.

She was rushed to Children's of Alabama where she was pronounced dead six hours later, at 9:45 p.m. The Jefferson County Coroner's Office, Rector said, determined that Levi suffered a significant skull fracture.

Melton was taken into custody Tuesday by Hoover police and has remained detained pending formal charges against him which were issued by the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office Thursday morning. He will be transferred to the Jefferson County Jail with bond set at $50,000.

"From the very beginning we were determined to find the truth for Levi and her mother,'' said Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis. "We also wanted to make certain that we got this case right because we have a victim who can no longer speak for herself."

"This child will never get the opportunity to grow up,'' the chief said, "and we have an obligation to her family to do everything we can to give them some small measure of justice and closure."

Derrick Pointer, Levi's father, said he is heartbroken at the loss of his only child. "She was just a joy to be around,'' Pointer said. "She was happy all of the time. She put a smile on everybody's face."

Pointer's Facebook page is full of photographs and tributes to his little girl. He lives in Talladega, and said he and his daughter were extremely close they weren't able to spend much time together in recent months.

He said he got to Children's of Alabama as soon as he was notified she was there, and said he was with her when she took her final breath. "She died in my arms,'' Pointer said. "I was holding her. Couldn't nobody tell me what happened."

"I was just speechless,'' he said.

Pointer said he learned Thursday that his daughter's death had been labeled a crime, and that her mother's boyfriend was charged. "I'm not happy about it,'' he said. "But I'm glad we know what actually happened."

He and other family members held a balloon release Wednesday night at his Talladega home in Levi's memory. Many of the balloons had images of Minions, Levi's favorite from the Despicable Me movie. "She was crazy about Minions,'' her father said."We said a prayer, and released the balloons."

Pointer said he wants everyone to remember Levi for the joy that she brought to all. "She was,'' he said, "pretty much perfect."

Levi's death was followed by the deaths of two more young children, all within seven days.

In Ta'Leah's death, she was taken unresponsive to Children's of Alabama late Tuesday afternoon. The girl's mother told officers she left the child with her boyfriend while she ran to the store and arrived home to find her daughter unresponsive.

Police and firefighters were dispatched to Tempest Drive. They arrived to find the mother running down the street with Ta'Leah in her arms yelling for help. From there, the child was taken by ambulance to Children's, where she was pronounced dead at 4:25 p.m.

Police have not yet announced any charges in the case.

On Monday, Dra was discovered unresponsive at 4:09 p.m. and rushed to Children's of Alabama, where he was pronounced dead at 5:25 p.m. Police Chief Nick Dyer said the boy is believed to have been in the car since his grandmother arrived for work in the morning just after 8 a.m.

Both the boy's grandmother and his father are employed at the college. The grandmother works in software support, and the father is an assistant football coach. "Miles College is praying for the family during this difficult time,'' Miles spokeswoman Alicia Johnson Williams has previous said. "Our hearts, prayers and support are extended to our team member and the entire family."

Fairfield investigators met with officials in the Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney's Office Wednesday, and that case also remains under investigation.

Hoover police ask that anyone with information in Levi's death call Det. Daniel Lowe at 205-739-6762.